The advent of digital technologies have slowly superseded the celluloid age, and what is left is but memories and nostalgia. The rapid development of cinema had left our generation of filmmakers behind.

Looking back at the old action films, I cannot help but feel a sense of indelible sadness. Nowadays films are made with much bigger budgets and more advanced equipment, which I hope the younger generation will cherish and create more and better films.

Chen Chih-hwa, was born in 1946 to a family of film practitioners in Taiwan. His father Chen Chung-yi and uncle Chen Chung-hsin were both cinematographers who shot Taiwan dialect films, and Chen and his three brothers all followed in their father’s footsteps and had worked as cinematographers. Chen himself served for a time at Li Han-hsiang’s Grand Motion Pictures, and later crisscrossed frequently between Hong Kong and Taiwan for various film assignments. His work as a cinematographer included Cheat to Cheat (1973), directed by Li Han-hsiang; The Fate of Lee Khan (1973), directed by King Hu; The Miserable Girl (1975) and Girl with the Long Hair (1975), directed by Ho Fan; New Fist of Fury (1976), directed by Lo Wei.

Chen made his directorial debut in 1974 with Kung Fu 10th Dan (A.K.A. Dragons Never Die), which was a co-production between Hong Kong and the Philippines. He also acted as the deputy director on I Want More (1976) and Shaolin Wooden Men (1976), which in effect meant he was a co-director with Yang Chun and Lo Wei, respectively, on the two films.

After making New Fist of Fury, Chen became friends with Jackie Chan, which began a long period of collaboration between them. Chan acted as martial arts coordinator on many of director Chen’s works such as Dance of Death (1976) and The 36 Crazy Fist (1977), while Chen also directed Jackie Chan in Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin (1977) and Half a Loaf of Kung Fu (1979), while serving as deputy director on most of the films directed by Jackie Chan during the 1980s.

Chen’s other directorial output includes The Young Taoism Fighter (1986), Young Dragons - Kung Fu Kids II (1986), Vampire Settle on Police Camp (1990) and Retreat of the Godfather (1991). In 2008, Chen directed A Hero Never Dies, a historical action TV series set in the Sino-Japanese War.